A/N: This is somewhere in season nine, about a month after 'Secrets' (aka the Wendy episode), pre-Dearing.
FYI, in the U.S. and other countries, an attorney assigned to represent the best interests of children, especially in custody cases, is called the Guardian ad Litem. And the canon pre-series timeline and ages can be somewhat confusing, so I just stuck to what made sense to me.
And all apologies, but updates will be a little slower than usual with this story.
Hope you like!

Chapter 1

Leroy Jethro Gibbs blew sawdust off the rocking chair and eyed it critically, still trying to decide what color stain his Dad would like best. Or maybe it would be best with just straight varnish. Slightly pursed lips reflected his dislike of being indecisive.

The dark basement was highlighted in a chiaroscuro effect by the strong late afternoon sun, leaves outside causing the light to blink with every fresh breeze. The bright rays highlighted the left chair arm which Gibbs wasn't quite convinced was identical to the right. He loved early summer weekends like this; not on call, no rush to be anywhere, a fresh cool breeze blowing thru the propped-open basement windows, and his latest project nearing completion.

Stomach growling, he decided to wait till the sanding and possibly staining was done before heading out to the back deck to grill up some steaks. The day was just too nice to cook at the fireplace.

He heard the front door close and steps crossing to the kitchen before heading to the basement stairs. Smirking at himself, Gibbs hoped it was Tony - the younger man usually brought food or beer with him.

Sneaker-clad feet bounded energetically down the stairs. "Hey Boss! Great day out today yeah?" Tony set a six-pack down on the worktable along with a small but bulging brown paper bag.

Giving Gibbs a once-over, he grinned and said, "I know that look - it's a good thing I brought these then. Come get some while they're warm." He poured a heap of boiled peanuts out of the bag into one of the bowls he'd brought from the kitchen, and pushed a second bowl over to receive the empties. Grabbing his own empty bowl, two bottles of beer and the bag, Tony sprawled comfortably on the stair landing. His t-shirt and shorts clad form leaned up against the wall, legs stretched across the steps. Both men popped peanut shells and slurped or pried out the peanuts, drank their beer, and talked in intervals about last night's baseball game that hadn't wrapped up until midnight.

A mellow and satiated Gibbs finished off his last peanut, and had a small grin as he stood up. Raising his beer bottle in a toast to Tony, he said "Good peanuts, salty. Good timing too, was hoping to get the stain on before heading up."

Tony flashed one of his proud grins that made Gibbs' own widen. Kid always gets such a kick out of a little honest gratitude.

For his part, Tony's slight buzz on his second beer was making him extra goofy about getting a little thing right for Gibbs. It's not easy doing something to make that man smile. "Yeah, Cromer's always gets it right. Don't want to know what Ducky would say about the salt."

Grunting in agreement, Gibbs stretched his back before he walked over and pulled out a fresh pack of fine-grain sanding paper. "So what's with the phone call yesterday? You gotta give an affidavit for which case?"

Eyes closing, Tony took another swallow in an obvious delaying move. "Hmm, yeah. Trying to believe that's going to resolve itself and not involve me. Custody case." He sighed while shaking his head. "Like I have any idea who the kid would be better off with. Let's hope the lawyers hash it out and leave me alone."

Both men raised their bottles in a toast.

"Friend? Something through work?"

"Hum. Guess she'd fall under friend category. Wendy's ex is suing for sole custody of their son."

Gibbs stopped his sanding for a moment, silent as he looked with raised inquiring eyebrows at Tony.

Raised hands and equal eyebrows answered him back, "I know! Why me, right? I had a few minutes and a car ride with their son. And lord knows I'm obviously no expert witness on parenting or anything."

Shrugging, Tony fiddled with his bottle label as he continued, "All I have with her is some history really, not a thing I'd care to talk about in a court for heaven's sake. I don't know. Just have to talk to the Guardian ad Litem on Tuesday, she'll decide if I have to show up in court. Guess I'll see what's what then."

Both men were silent for a while, lost in their thoughts. Gibbs finished the final sanding, wipe down and clean up of sawdust. He wasn't too surprised at the younger man's silence; Tony had gradually cut down on the chatter while in the basement to where it wasn't entirely unusual anymore. Well, actually the whole house. Huh, either it's my house or me he's comfortable enough with. Or maybe just more comfortable inside his own skin. Whatever works.

Gibbs stared one last time at his selection of stains and paints. Picking up two cans of stain, he walked slowly closer to Tony. Obviously still trying to pick which color to use, he shook his head and he held the cans out to Tony, and decisively said, "Pick."

Wide eyes stared at the stain cans. "Ahuh. Umm… what's your wood?"

"Walnut. If I go red mahogany it'll get deep red like red wine. Go with dark walnut, it's more the classic dark brown. Both will show the grain off fine."

"And your Dad generally likes…?"

Exasperated, Gibbs answered, "I don't know. He seems to like everything. Or I just don't know. Just pick."

Understanding the dilemma now, Tony was glad to make Gibbs' life easier with a purely arbitrary decision. Tapping the mahogany, he declared confidently, "Go red. Good stand out gift color, and you had me sold at red wine. Plus, if he doesn't much care for the color, you can blame it on me."

A small grunt answered him, then as the older man turned away, "Pull out the box fan and aim it that way on low will you? Don't want to poison us with fumes."

After setting up and starting the fan, Tony settled closer in a stool but appeared lost in thought again as Gibbs prepared to paint.

Gibbs wondered if his team, his family, knew that just having to choose to speak was enough to irritate him on a bad day. Luckily not today though, and rarely ever with Tony; exasperation being different than irritation. Eyeing his quiet SFA, Gibbs decided he'd have no regrets prodding Tony to get out whatever he was mulling over.

"Know you got some 'closure' with Wendy... was wondering why you didn't get back together. Figured you'd just grown too far apart."

A brief huff of breath answered him. "Yeah, there was that. But also… hmm. I know you know more than most Boss, but don't think you ever really understood me and Wendy. How we first got together, or how we broke up. I mean, I sure as hell wasn't talking about it when I first started working for you. Was perfectly fine with whatever conclusions you drew yourself."

Lips pursed in a slight frown, Gibbs answered, "Let me think you called it off. Sounds like a lot I don't know." He paused as he straightened the drip cloth under the chair. "Now… you know that bugs me."

Tony snorted, "Yeah, I know Boss."

"You feel like filling me in?"

The younger man took a deep breath. "Might get boring, you're not really into soap operas anymore than I am."

"I've had three divorces DiNozzo. I don't watch 'em on TV - I've lived 'em. You feel like talking, I got staining to do. I'm all ears."

"Well, shoot, that's every day Boss. Benefit of you not being much of a talker." Tony was silent for just a moment, before nodding, decision made.

"Yeah... thing is, if you'd known, you probably wouldn't have pushed me back in her direction."

Gibbs' frown was immediate, "Hell. Didn't mean to push you at her."

Raised eyebrows and a disbelieving look answered him.

A rare defensive sound entered Gibbs' voice as he waved a clean paint stir-stick in Tony's direction. "No. Just… you were the one in here at Christmas time talking about being ready for two cups. Thought a little… resolution would help."

"Yeah, it did overall I guess."

Gibbs was surprised when Tony stayed silent for another minute. He felt a tiny prickle of unease that he might be stirring up something more than a can of stain. Something in the younger man that was better off still instead of agitated. Except this court case was going to do it anyway apparently, so better to do it here first.

Tony finally spoke resolutely, "Well, always start at the beginning. You know where I met her, right? My music teacher in high school?"

"Just don't know why you call it high school half the time."

Tony affected a snooty drawl, "Well, 'my years at the academy' sounds a little over the top, not really the impression I like to make." Shaking his head, he continued, "She started at the school my senior year. We really hit it off. She was impressed with my piano chops and… me I guess. Offered private tutoring for free. I was impressed with… everything about her." He fell silent again, a soft smile on his face.

Gibbs suddenly stood up straight, looking over at his friend staring at the beer bottle in his hands, lost in thought. The older man felt very parental at the moment as an idea occurred to him. "You two fool around? With you underage?"

The question didn't appear to surprise Tony at all. He nodded slightly. "Hmm. I've been answering that question with a lie for… what... 24 years. Was pretty important to lie back then, her career and all. We didn't fool around at first, but then… we were together for about six months. She wasn't exactly my first, but man, it felt like it. Whole higher level of being with a woman than I'd even imagined at that age. Really… intense sometimes."

Hearing a sigh, Tony looked up to see Gibbs' troubled look. "Oh, don't misunderstand. I thought I was the luckiest seventeen year old guy on the planet. She was seriously hot, and she was only five years older than me. I mean I was sixteen when we first started, but turned seventeen pretty soon…" Seeing Gibbs' troubled look now include raised eyebrows, he hurried on.

"I know," he shrugged, "total double standard as opposed to a male teacher with a seventeen year old female student. Believe me, I know. But it's not like I was pressured or forced or something. I mean, sometimes it was a little… overwhelming…" he trailed off again.

Gibbs glanced over as Tony seemed lost in thought for a moment. Tony was hunched more than usual on the stool, head bent, the hand fussing with his hair also shielded his face. The older man shifted position to paint the front legs. Dammit. Why the hell did some of my… grown kids have to have such messed up childhoods?

Vague chagrin in his tone, Tony snorted before continuing, "Don't laugh, but it actually seemed scary every once in a while. But I figured it was just because I was young, you know?"

Gibbs was glad his back was now to Tony, so the pursed lips and eye roll weren't obvious. Yes. I know. You weren't just 'young', you were too young for her dammit.

With a wry tone, the younger man continued. "Anyway. She saw something in me, encouraged me, gave me a lot of support and advice. I didn't have much of that back then, it was… I was besotted in love Boss."

Laughing lightly, he shook his head. "Thought we were both in love, but hers was a little different. She was always up front about me going off to college someday, and that I should 'experience life' without being tied to a long distance relationship. She was… considerate about it, didn't let me get too clingy, probably quite a skill with a starry-eyed seventeen year old."

I'm sure she was very skilled, making sure he didn't tell anyone especially. Woman should have found someone her own age, not trained him how to be a player. Gibbs grumbled to himself, not willing to interrupt Tony's chain of thought.

"Don't worry Boss, it's not like I'd ever do something like that myself, or ever did back when I was younger. And I've had no problem enforcing the law against that kind of thing. Anyway, semi-tearful parting scene aside, we split up when I went off to Ohio State. Didn't even really keep in touch. Missed her like crazy for a little while, but… like she expected, I got busy with school and training. Didn't have much time for angst."

Although Tony's self-deprecating huff showed the memory was no longer painful, Gibbs could easily imagine a young DiNozzo not only loosing his bedmate, but loosing her support as well. Once again drifting without any true connections that should have been provided by his family.

Gibbs decided not to entirely censor himself. His new opinion of Wendy obvious by his tone, "She should've at least sent a damn postcard."

"Heh. No. Clean break kinda thing. I just figured it toughened me up a little more… the heart's such a squishy thing sometimes isn't it? Temperamental. At the whim of chemistry."

He groaned and ran a hand through his hair, "Stupid chemistry! Just last month when I was in her house to take her and her son to the grandmother's? We're basically arguing, end up six inches apart and I can smell her and… good lord. Next thing you know we're going at it, stuck together like two magnets before the kid and nanny walk in. Stupid pheromones."

"Hmm." Gibbs intoned non-commitally. Wonder if that's more like sexual imprinting considering he was barely post-pubescent when they started. One of the many questions I'll never ask Abby.

"So, you didn't have any contact up until she called you in Baltimore?"

"Right. She'd apparently followed my career a bit. Ended up in Baltimore at another teaching job, rang me up."

"You two talk about the underage thing?"

Tony smiled, "You'd think so, wouldn't you? But no, never really came up. I mean we referred to it, not like we were pretending it hadn't happened. She would say how happy she was I'd turned out so well. Especially in the bedroom, she… ahh. I'm thinking that would be the TMI area, yeah?"

Smirking at him, Gibbs answered, "Ya think DiNozzo?" He had put the finishing touches on the rocking chair, and began cleanup for the night. "So if that was the beginnings I didn't know about, what's the ending I don't know about?"

Tony rubbed the back of his neck, "Oo boy. Talking about our dubious beginning is a lot easier than our disastrous ending."

Gibbs rinsed the brush in a jar of turpentine before leaving it sealed in cling wrap for tomorrow's final coat of varnish. "Well, a good steak makes everything better. Let's head up. Even got some potato salad. Can eat out on the deck."

"Boss, I like your concept of picnics! Although there is something to be said for cold fried chicken in the basket." He grabbed the remainder of the six-pack and the some of the peanut dishes as they headed to the stairs.

Picking up the brown bag of peanuts and the other bowl, Gibbs replied, "True. But I bet even Ducky would have to admit steak is better for you than fried chicken."

"Hmm, don't know. He might… grudgingly!" Tony laughed.

"Well, that's why I got the potato salad anyway." Gibbs put the bag in the fridge and reached for the beer pack in Tony's hand to put in also.

"How you figure…?" Tony grinned in anticipation of his Boss' sense of humor.

"Says salad."